That crazy man. Even hurt like that, he didn’t so much as groan.

In the end, the Emperor stepped back.

If the magician really had tried to sneak into the Duke’s house... that would’ve been terrible.

But there was no evidence. He was dead.

‘The most troublesome thing is that a magician died on my land.’

The Emperor let out a long sigh and rubbed his forehead. Leviathan glanced at him as he walked past.

“Looks like you found a good excuse for Arcadia.”

“What are you talking... That’s nonsense.”

“A magician tried to kill a noble and failed, so he blew himself up.”

“...Tch.”

“You can spin the story however you want. I know you’re good at that.”

This hero... I really will kill him one day.

The Emperor clenched his fist inwardly.

“Well, I’ll be going now... I’m guessing you don’t want your cloak back.”

Step, step. The Duke’s broad back receded.

“Hey... hey!”

The Emperor forced down his heavy breathing.

“Your Majesty, should we stop him...?”

He snorted at the knights’ question.

“Stop him? Who? You? That monster?”

“Well...”

“Phew...”

His teal eyes darkened.

“Ron.”

At the brief call, a shadow wearing a mask appeared.

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

“Keep everything that happened here a secret. Handle it quietly. I’ll write to Arcadia myself.”

He thought for a moment, then added,

“Especially make sure nothing about the young lady gets out.”

Jebehrt’s daughter—the magician suspected her until the very end...

‘If people find out she was here, the Magic Kingdom will pay attention again.’

The Emperor rubbed his temples, feeling a sudden headache.

Something doesn’t feel right. It’s like I just took on something really annoying...

“Your Majesty, are you saying you’ll cover up everything?”

“The young lady is a true citizen of the Bamilon Empire.”

He remembered the cheerful, bickering father and daughter. The child’s bright, innocent face, too.

“I have to protect her. From outsiders...”

That Duke...

That’s why he made me sign those papers.

“Whether it’s Arcadia or not.”

With a sigh, the Emperor finished speaking.

I woke up not long after.

I had only slept a little because I’d used a lot of magic and the herb’s power. Khalid shared his magic with me again, and when the dream ended, I woke up right away.

As soon as I opened my eyes in bed, I jumped up and ran.

It was late at night.

The Duke’s house was in chaos.

“Oh no...”

Tears fell from my eyes.

My dad’s bare skin was red. Blood was running down his arm.

My lips pouted on their own.

“Making a sad face again. Who brought her here?”

“There’s... there’s so much blood...”

Dad just looked at his wounded arm like it was nothing.

I could only stare at the wound and cry.

Borbel, who had been called in urgently, calmly put medicine on the cut and wrapped it in bandages.

“It could have been much worse.”

Mom said as she cleaned up the bloody clothes.

She looked calm, but her face was very pale—she had been really scared.

“If you hadn’t avoided the explosion, you would have been badly hurt.”

“Yeah... the timing was good.”

Dad glanced at me and muttered.

“Dad’s arm...”

“Ha... Why did you get up in the middle of the night?”

He poked my forehead.

“Go back to bed and get some more sleep.”

Honestly, I could barely hear what anyone was saying.

I knelt on the big sofa, just staring at Dad’s arm.

‘Dad got hurt.’

When the “Fourth” broke the self-destruct magic item, Dad protected me with his body.

Sharp branches and decorations flew everywhere—he must have been cut by them.

“Oh no...”

“Ruby, people will think I died, you know?”

“Don’t... Don’t say that...!”

I couldn’t hold it in anymore. Tears burst out.

Everyone in the room—Dad, Mom, Borbel, Hazel, Butler Adolf—looked very worried.

But I just cried and cried.

I didn’t even cry this hard when my secret as a girl was revealed...

Right now, I just wanted to cry.

In my dream, I kept seeing Dad’s pale face as he died.

“Okay, okay, stop crying. Dad’s really fine.”

“Rubian? Dr. Borbel said it’s nothing serious.”

“Yes, yes. Really, Miss. For His Grace, this is barely a scratch.”

The adults hurried to comfort me.

But I cried like a broken faucet.

Finally, Dad couldn’t take it anymore and picked me up with one arm.

“Rubian Jebert.”

His deep voice called my name.

Only then did my eyes focus and I see Dad’s face clearly.

‘My name...’

Still hiccupping, I slowly noticed everyone around me.

Mom, looking worried. Dr. Borbel, at a loss. Hazel, Adolf the butler.

And Dad, looking down at me seriously.

‘Reality...’

I finally realized.

Now I am “Rubian Jebert.” This is my real life.

I wiped my tears and answered,

“Yes, yes...”

“Why are you crying so sadly? Did you have a bad dream?”

I nodded up and down like crazy.

It was a really, really bad dream.

In the dream, Dad died because of a magician... That magician...

“It was scary. So scary...”

I hugged Dad’s neck. His warm hand rubbed my back.

“She’s all sweaty... Borbel.”

“Yes, yes. I’ll bring some tea to help her calm down.”

Borbel hurried away with the maids.

I shut my eyes tight and thought over the dream. 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝙬𝙚𝓫𝒏𝓸𝓿𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝙤𝓶

A magician from the kingdom, meeting Dad alone at night.

She was small, had a thin voice, and her arm was covered with a world tree branch.

Her eyes under the moonlight were bright red.

She was just the Magic King’s puppet, with no name...

The Seventh.

That was what they called the magician.

‘That...’

I bit my lip.

‘That was me in the original story.’

I wasn’t just some extra. I just couldn’t remember myself before.

I shook my head wildly.

‘No, that’s not me!’

I quickly wiped away my rolling tears.

“Ruby, what’s wrong? Look at Dad. Don’t bite your lip.”

My body was gently pulled away. Dad cupped my cheeks and looked at me closely.

“What kind of nightmare did you have... It was just a dream. It’s not real, so wake up, okay?”

His firm voice told me exactly what I needed to hear.

That’s right. It wasn’t real.

That story from the original is gone now.

‘I changed it.’

I’m not the Magic King’s “Seventh” anymore. I ran away and became Rubian with the Jebert family.

Unlike the “Seventh” in the original, I escaped the Magic King and have a new life.

“Dad, the blood...”

But even so, the sight of the red blood still scared me.

I thought Dad would die...

I let my tears fall as I reached out to touch Dad’s bandage.

But I couldn’t touch it. My hand just hovered in the air.

“It’s fine. It’ll stop soon. As long as you don’t cry.”

“I won’t cry...”

I looked into Dad’s eyes and answered. He hugged my head with one arm.

“Phew. I’m glad you’re not hurt, really.”

He let out a long sigh. I listened to his strong heartbeat against his chest.

‘Yes. This is real.’

The steady thumping quickly calmed me down.